Schools require a lot of signage, whether it’s room identification signs or temporary signs to promote events. Especially at a college campus, having signage for each building is important so students, staff, and visitors know where to go. Without signage, there is no way to distinguish buildings from one another, and it’s even harder to identify different rooms in a building without the proper signage.
California State University Northridge (CSUN) has a pretty large campus with many different departments. CSUN College of Education and CSUN College of Humanities were both in need of some interior signage to help people navigate through the building. The two offices, the Liberal Studies Program and the Credential Office, were connected through the same lobby, and they wanted a professional way to identify the different rooms.
When starting design on any sign, we consider what is going on the sign and where it’s going. These signs were to be installed above the doorway onto white drywall. The information that needed to be displayed was just lettering. In order to contrast against the white wall, we used black acrylic that was 3/8″ thick. Black and white are probably one of the most popular contrasting colors used for signage. Each letter was flat-cut from a flat sheet of black acrylic and was to be installed with VHB tape and silicone.
Installing individual dimensional letters can be a difficult task due to how many different pieces there are. If just one letter is crooked or the kerning is not correct, the whole sign will look off. During installation, we always use a pattern and for these signs, we had two installers on the job. When installing dimensional letters, we either mount the letters with studs or with adhesive.
Stud-Mounting
When we stud-mount, we need to tap the studs into the letters at our shop. When installing stud mounted letters, holes are drilled into the wall first and filled with silicone for the studs to go into. This is a very secure way of mounting letters. We also stud mount with spacers when you want the letters spaced off of the wall.
Adhesive
Using adhesive is a less invasive form of installation. We installed these signs with VHB and silicone. We use both so the VHB will hold the letters up while the silicone dries to create a secure hold. While the wall is not affected during installation, it may still get damaged when the sign is removed.
The signs look great, and they are sure to help navigation throughout the lobby.